My cousin also did Reading today - her first ever half and she did it in 1.53 something. She was morbidly obese this time a yr ago, and could barely run to the end of the road. Thanks to running and weight watchers she has cracked it, and thanks to running I really think it will stay off this time. So chuffed for her.

And I am about to enter my 1/2........have to do it by midnight tonight or enter on the day and I CBA with that. I had a great run this morning, 10.5 miles, started really slowly and had no idea how far I was going to go, I was just testing the waters to see what everything felt like. Anyway, the sun was shining, there were lots of friendly runners out there and it felt good. I did one lap of the 1/2 course and added some on the end, and really ramped up the pace in the second half so overall I did 7.57 pace, but the last 2 miles were sub 7. Ad the best thing.....nothing hurts!!

B4stard boss emailed me to say I have to work my 3 month notice. I have worked for my company for 10yrs this year and have never known them hold anyone to 3 months. I offered to work 2 months but they said no. I am gutted. Obviously. I now won't accrue enough holiday in my new job this year to cover summer and autumn / Xmas hols which is gutting.

Then he emailed me asking me to ensure I take all my holiday entitlement. He can eff right off. If they are so resource constrained that they need me to work my full notice period then how can they want me to take 2 weeks off during that time?? I have told him I won't take any more holiday than I planned. Instead they can pay me the 2 weeks they will owe me and I can then find some unpaid leave in my new job to get through the year. I am soooo pissed off with them. Boss knows that I have been under loads of stress thru work and they are keeping me there. I can't risk going off sick because I am worried they will pass a negative medical record to the uni. God I am mad at them.

Jeez CM, they are determined to make your life miserable right until the very end aren't they? Can you appeal to HR department? What a c@ck! I think I remember you having a project you said would finish at end of March so he's really just being awkward. They should have valued you more when you were still there.

Bet he has a really small di*k. What a prick. Try not to let yourself get stressed about it CM. you are out of there, it will happen. And they absolutely cannot force you to take all your holiday. And you certainly don't need to work really hard, or drive to Hemel at the drop of a hat.

No I shall not be working hard! I do indeed finish on IPCC at the end of march / beginning of April. The next thing he wanted me to pick up was client facing due diligence at British gas. And why would it be a good idea for me to do that if I have resigned. For gods sake. Stupid man. Fortunately the uni is being fine about it but I just want the hell out of there. And I can't get away for another quarter of a year. He is a cock indeed. This is all my immediate boss's doing. He is new and scared and relying on me. The main boss usually wants shot of people as soon as possible as it is too much of a risk to keep disillusioned people in client facing roles. So this is entirely his doing.

As Caro says try not to let it stress you out - just let it reinforce the great decision you have made re. getting the hell out of there! Can't believe they want you to work the full notice but want to hold you to taking your annual leave.

Happy birthday (belatedly) to all those with birthdays around now! So many it seems!!

Camlo - your work/life balance sounds completely skewed at the moment. I hope it eases soon or you can find ways to avoid work intruding so heavily on your personal time - it solves a problem in the short term (keeps you on top of work) but has a long term cost in terms of happiness and wellbeing I think.

We are in the very early stages of toilet training - eeek! Matilda has asked unprompted to do wees on the loo 4 times now (in 2 days). Will just let her take the lead for now - mainly because I haven't a clue what I' doing so why not put my 2.5 year old in charge!! She's quite excited about it all.

Was on a Skype call this morning and hubby got called with some work from an agency - only he's disappeared and I have no idea what hes off doing, when he'll be back etc - so am assuming that means I;m collecting M at 12! Bollocks that means he has the carseat - looks like Im collecting her in the buggy which she'll love but means I'll be catching up on work this evening (ok ok I know if I was really stressed out I should be working now rather than on here!!)

Anyway all good, some money for us and work for hubby which is always great!

They can't make you CM!! (Ok I don't know that for 100% sure) but check your contract and good old google. It became my great friend when my work were trying to screw me out of my childcare vouchers. Can't remember what I did about holday but I was on mat leave anyway so it wasnt really an issue.

The only time someone can get paid in place of taking statutory leave (known as ‘payment in lieu’) is when they leave their job. Employers must pay for untaken statutory leave (even if the worker is dismissed for gross misconduct).

If an employer offers more than 5.6 weeks’ annual leave, they can agree separate arrangements for the extra leave.

from a .gov website CM. so unless your contract says otherwise, he's talking out of his arse.

i have bought extra holiday under flex bens so have (pro-rata) 7 weeks per year. and my contract is standard T&Cs at work which reflects the company policy which is that you have to take all your holiday before you leave unless otherwise agreed locally. locally meaning by your boss. and my boss has said no...

Could you start new job whilst technically on annual leave from the other And so finish after 2.5 months? Tax nightmare I would expect but is it theoretically possible? I have no idea of the law on it but surely it's just a case of having 2 jobs which lots of people do.

Things to do one week after returning to work and facing 3 proofs in Greenock sheriff court on Tuesday: get kitchen gutted and have to live off microwaveable foodstuffs. what was I thinking?

IS there any way you can arrange a meeting with HR to dicuss - not sure if that'd be a waste of time!? Your boss does seem to be being incredibly unfair (numerous expletives that could replace unfair). WHat does N think?

You need to become really inflexible - no short notice trips etc etc. Absolutely no point bending over backwards for them working late into the night etc.

Fine Cm, tell him you will take weeks 11 and 12 of your notice period as AL. You can start work at the uni and get paid twice for the same weeks! Oh and perhaps you will have time owing to take during weeks 9 and 10? Perhaps if was quietly reminded that you can legitimately put a complaint in about him right up until you go....

thanks for thinking of me - work is defo screwing me up and i am very zombie like. i have admin starting soon (i hope) but not holding my breath until i see it. Tom will be 7 tomorrow, he actually enjoyed the wee family party and we let him open pressies off in-laws so he spent all evening perfecting magic and scratching out some Egyptian treasure.

Oh no EF - not what you need!! Unless you use it as an excuse to get some nice thai takeaway etc?

Camlo I listened to this TED talk recently about work life balance and it really resonated - focuses on individual taking responsibility. Fingers crossed you get admin soon - I hate it how employers are so short-sighted that they don't realise the damage over-work/stress does to their most valuable assets (staff). Take care xx

Who knows what hubby will be doing - the work is through an agency. He wasn't working at his old place today so the extra money will be useful. More important is getting him out working in his new field rather than still stuck cheffing! Hope he has a good day - guess that means I'm sorting dinner too though - boo!!

I have been sobbing this morning about work. I can't complain about boss as he is protected by the policy. It is all at his discretion so if he says "no" the policy backs him up. The fact that no one else has had to work their notice is irrelevant I guess. It is all line manager's discretion.

CM - I really feel for you. It sounds like he is being as difficult as possible, whilst playing by the official rules. All you can do is stick to your side of the bargain and work strict 9-5 or whatever you need to work and no more. Tell as many clients as possible that you have resigned as they will probably not enjoy that. Also can you ask HR what kind of reference info they give. I work in Banking and we only give out standard info such as name, job title and dates and nothing else, no matter what is asked for. We would give that reference to someone who has been fired/the worst sickie offender or the best employee in the world. The only time (I believe) they would mention anything was if someone was front office (ie a trader) and had violated the Financial conduct rules. If yours just give a standard reference and no more info, then pull some sickies. It does feel very unfair though.

Brookie - awesome time, really well done. You should be so pleased with yourself.

Carovet - great running. Looks like you are in good shape for the half.

The 'any news/how are you feeling' stalking is getting worse. I am not answering phone calls and texts from the worst offenders. I am v close to a FB status that says 'to all those asking, i am fine but the baby is not here yet' but I guess that sounds quite arsey.

That TED talk was very good. All so true about the fact that we need to take responsibility for our own work/life balance (I know, I know, it's so much easier said than done) as the companies that we work for are designed to get the most out of us.

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